Physicians' preferences for information sources : a meta-analytic study

Identification of the resources physicians use to acquire information for clinical practice and medical research is an important area of research for health sciences librarianship and medical practice. During the past twenty years several studies have addressed questions about physicians' prefe...

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Bibliographic Details
Published inBulletin of the Medical Library Association Vol. 85; no. 3; pp. 223 - 232
Main Author HAUG, J. D
Format Journal Article
LanguageEnglish
Published Chicago, IL Medical Library Association 01.07.1997
Subjects
Doctors
Exact sciences and technology
Humans
Information and communication sciences
Information science. Documentation
Information Services
Information sources
Information work
Interprofessional Relations
Libraries, Medical
Medicine
Other aspects of specialized information. Miscellaneous
Physicians
Sciences and techniques of general use
Specialized information sources
Specialized information sources (paper or electronic format)
Surveys
Surveys and Questionnaires
User surveys
Users
Statistical analysis
Information source
Periodical
Oral communication
Physician
Information access
Bibliographic review
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Summary:Identification of the resources physicians use to acquire information for clinical practice and medical research is an important area of research for health sciences librarianship and medical practice. During the past twenty years several studies have addressed questions about physicians' preferences for information sources, but generalization from the results of these studies has been hampered by limited sampling, diverse methods, and varied reportorial formats. Meta-analysis provides a method for reducing these limits. Using a meta-analytic procedure, this study reviews twelve studies published between 1978 and 1992, categorizes and ranks the physicians' preferred information sources reported in each study, then aggregates and counts the frequencies of the top six preferences, as well as the associated first and second preferences, for all the study populations or their strata. The results indicate that physicians prefer to obtain information from journals and books, but also that they often consult colleagues to get answers to clinical and research questions. The implications of these findings for health sciences librarianship are briefly discussed.
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ISSN:0025-7338